OU football coach Brent Venables says Sooners are moving forward after Cale Gundy's exit

NORMAN — Less than 72 hours after Cale Gundy’s stunning resignation as OU’s wide receivers coach, Sooners coach Brent Venables worked to turn the page.

“We talked about Murphy’s Law one time, didn’t we?” Venables said Wednesday in his first meeting with reporters since Gundy’s announcement. “Here it is. This won’t be the last time there’s a crisis and issues you’ve got to deal with head on.

"Nobody asked for this issue to happen, but how we respond ultimately, as we know, will determine how we are defined.”

Gundy, the 50-year-old former OU quarterback who had been an assistant coach with the Sooners since 1999, resigned several days after an incident in a position meeting where Gundy said he read a racially charged word — multiple times — off a player’s iPad as he admonished the player for not paying attention in the meeting.

Venables started his session with reporters saying he wanted to move on.

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“All that needs to be said has been said,” Venables said. “Out of respect for our players and our staff who have been working the last 8 ½ months for fall camp and getting ready for the 2022 season, we’re going to keep it to those questions.”

But virtually all of the questions in the 30-minute session were at least tangentially related to Gundy’s resignation, first being asked about how he’s handled things with the wide receiver group.

“This issue aside, the Oklahoma program with Cale Gundy is stronger than one without him,” Venables said. “But I couldn’t be more excited about L’Damian Washington and the opportunity that he has with these guys this season.”

Venables said Washington’s appointment as Gundy’s interim replacement was taken well by the receiver group.

“He’s already had incredible relationships built with these guys and trust and really a deep understanding of who they are as young men, certainly with their skill sets and their strengths and weaknesses,” Venables said. “He’s incredibly bright and smart and articulate. He’s got deep trust with these guys.”

Former Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells and former Sooners receiver Nick Basquine will assist Washington as much as they can inside the framework of NCAA rules, Venables said.

Venables said he’d already heard from plenty of people interested in the opening, but he would take his time making that decision, with Washington coaching the group for the season.

Venables said the wide receiver group was as poised as any to handle the sudden change.

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“That’s one of our strongest position groups on the team,” Venables said. “We’ve got tremendous leadership there and maturity between Marvin (Mims), Drake (Stoops), Theo (Wease) and Jalil (Farooq).”

And what has Venables done to get the players back on track after the upheaval of the last few days?

“Nothing,” Venables said. “Just continue to be exactly who we’ve been. Be open, honest, connective, relational. Just be real, exactly how we have been. I’m out in front of everything and meeting things head on, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it’s hard.”

Venables said there was a three-hour team meeting Saturday, the day before Gundy’s resignation became public, to begin the process of working through the issue as a team.

“My feeling is that it was amazing,” Venables said. “Really, really, really transparent and just vulnerable. And it was terrific.

“One that sometimes through adversity causes those moments where you’ve got to take a pause and you have to have that to continue to move forward as a program. Trying to find good in a dark place and in a dark moment.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Brent Venables comments on Cale Gundy's resignation